KUALA LUMPUR – National badminton legend Datuk Rashid Sidek has praised the fighting spirit shown by Malaysia’s young shuttlers despite their Thomas Cup quarter-final loss to Indonesia in Aarhus, Denmark, yesterday.
In fact, said Rashid, Indonesia had to toil to beat Malaysia 3-0 to confirm their semi-final spot.
He said this shows that Malaysia’s young badminton players, despite their lack of experience playing in such a prestigious championship, gave their rivals a good fight.
“I see our loss not as an easy defeat. They showed tremendous spirit and fought till the end.
“We know that most of the players are still young and playing in their first Thomas Cup campaign. So, we can’t put high expectations on them to beat Indonesia,” he said at BT Bina Group Sdn Bhd’s sports excellence award ceremony here today.
Rashid, who was part of the national squad when Malaysia last lifted the Thomas Cup in 1992 here, said the young shuttlers’ performance in Aarhus sets a positive marker for the next edition of the Thomas Cup.
In the quarter-finals, Malaysia started on a losing note when Lee Zii Jia went down 15-21, 17-21 to world No. 5 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, before Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik fell 17-21, 16-21, 15-21 to world No. 1 pair Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo.
Indonesia, which won the Thomas Cup a record 13 times, clinched the winning point through Jonatan Christie, who defeated Ng Tze Yong 14-21, 21-19, 21-16 to set up an intriguing semi-final clash against Denmark today in a bid to end their trophy drought after last emerging as champions in 2002.
Commenting on the performance of Ng Tze Yong, 21, and Leong Jun Hao, 22, in Aarhus, Rashid said they both have huge potential.
“They are very talented and have a good fighting spirit. There’s a big possibility that they can be among the world’s top 10 players if they work hard and train diligently.”
At the award ceremony, national para-shuttler Cheah Liek Hou and his coach Rashid were presented with a luxury condominium unit by BT Bina Group following the former’s success in bagging the men’s singles gold at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
The property developer also presented them with an annual sponsorship of RM250,000 each until 2024. – Bernama, October 16, 2021
